shadow_, a momentary impression made upon the luminiferous ether behind the comet, this would represent in some degree the conception such a phenomenon irresistibly calls up. But this is not all. Even such an extraordinary excitement of the ether, conceive it as we will, will afford no account of the projection of lateral streamers; of the effusion of light from the nucleus of a comet toward the sun; and its subsequent _re_jection; of the irregular and capricious mode in which that effusion has been seen to take place; none of the clear indications of alternate evaporation and condensation going on in the immense regions of space occupied by the tail and coma—none, in short, of innumerable other facts which link themselves with almost equally irresistible cogency to our ordinary notions of matter and force. LIFE IN OTHER WORLDS.—J. E. GORE The question is often asked, Are the stars inhabited? To this we can confidently answer, No. The stars themselves are certainly not habitable by any forms of life with which we are familiar. That the stars are luminous incandescent bodies, similar to the sun, seems almost self-evident. That they shine by their own inherent light, and not by light reflected from another body, like the planets of the Solar System, is a fact which scarcely needs demonstration. There are no bright objects near them from which they could derive their light, and they are too far from the sun to obtain any illumination from that source. But if any proofs were necessary, we have the evidence of the spectroscope, which shows unmistakably that their light emanates from incandescent bodies. Many of the stars show spectra very similar to that of the sun. The light of others, although differing somewhat in quality when analyzed by the prism, indicates clearly that they are at a very high temperature—in many cases, indeed, suggesting that they are actually hotter than the sun. It may be objected, however, that in the case of binary or revolving double stars, the smaller component may possibly shine by light reflected from the brighter star. Indeed, this has been suggested in the case of Sirius and its faint companion. But, if the companion of Sirius shone merely by reflected light from its primary, it would be much fainter than it is, and, indeed, would be utterly invisible in our largest telescopes. Further, in some double stars, spectroscopic observations suggest that the component stars have different spectra. This is, of course, conclusive evidence against the hypothesis of borrowed light; for were the smaller star to shine by reflected light from the larger, the spectra of both would be identical, as in the case of the sun and moon. We may therefore conclude that all the visible stars are suns, and totally unfit for the habitation of living creatures.